Marylin's Lemon Thyme Game Hens

Now there's a story behind this one.........I was catering a wedding and serving this dish. When I ordered the game hens, I specifically asked that they be delivered to the facility where I was cooking already thawed out. Three hours before serving time the delivery arrived FROZEN hard as a rock!!

Now, here I am with 4 CASES of unsplit game hens frozen and not much time to come up with a solution before serving them. These types of things happen alot in that kind of business and you have to think quick! My solution was to run them through the commercial dishwasher, one case at a time (still in their wrappers) until they were thawed enough to cut and cook. Thank goodness the water temperature is so hot in those machines. And yes, I made it on time! They were a great hit and I got another gray hair!

• Melt butter in a sauce pan.
• Put split game hens in a 9" x 12" baking pan.
• Pour melted butter and lemon juice over.
• Add garlic and sprinkle with thyme.
• Bake at 300° F. for about 1 1/2 hours.
• The secret is to baste OFTEN.
• Raise temperature to 400° F. for last 20 minutes of cooking to brown.

This recipe is so simple, yet so good. You can also use chicken, either pieces or split broilers.

Good Cookin',